Skin bleaching has been a preserve for women. However, times are changing and even men are joining the band wagon of cosmetic procedures. VYBZ Kartel skin bleaching and Sammy Sosa Bleached skin all caught their fans by surprise. Why, when and how did they do it? We explore these.

Who Is Sammy Sosa and Why Sammy Sosa Bleached His Skin

Sammy Sosa is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) slugger. He went to the United States in 1986 to participate in a minor league and three years later made his debut in a major league with Texas Rangers. His most notable achievement was while with the Chicago Cubs where he beat Roger Maris’s home run record in a season. His last professional season was in the year 2007 when he played his last professional match.

Given his profession, it is hard to understand why Sosa bleached his skin. This is given the fact that his career line does not so much rely on looks. It is alleged that his skin lightening is as a result of his performance enhancing drugs which resulted to his having an uneven skin tone.

Where Is Sammy Sosa From

Sammy Sosa was born in the year 1968 in the Dominican Republic in a place known as San Pedro de Marcoris. At the age of seven, he lost his dad and helped to take care of the family by doing odd jobs. He went to the United States in the year 1986.

Sammy Sosa Bleached Skin and Pictures of Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa initially had a dark skin tone. That though is now history and he spots a new complexion that is almost white. When his lightened skin was fast discovered, it was thought that he was suffering from a skin condition that was causing drastic changes on his facial pigmentation. Sammy Sosa bleached skin was first spotted in 2009 when he showed up at the Latin Grammys awards. This led to a lot of speculation from analysts, fans and sports commentators as to what could have led to the change in pigmentation.

When asked about it, Sammy attributed his light complexion to a skin softening cream he uses. “It’s a cream that I have, that I use to soften [my skin], but has bleached me some.” [SOURCE: medicaldaily.com]

He also admits to having gone through skin rejuvenation treatment. He however would not give the name of the cream he claims to have bought in Europe nor where he had his treatment. His admission of having these two treatments helped to clear up the thought that he had some skin condition.

Pictures of Sammy Sosa before and after show how much his skin has changed over the past years. It is not known if he uses the cream on his whole body or for the face alone. One thing is evident though; Sammy Sosa bleached skin is one in which his complexion has undergone a tremendous lightening.

Sammy Sosa Bleaching Cream

Although he says he uses a cream, it is not known which brand it is that Sammy Sosa uses. Skin beaching creams though tend to contain active ingredients which help to get rid of melanin. This could be done in two ways. The first one is to have them inhibit production of melanin while the second is to increase the cell turn over. Both mechanisms lead to a skin that is lighter with time.

VYBZ Kartel Skin Bleaching

VYBZ Kartel, is a Jamaican dancehall artist who was convicted of murder on April 3rd, 2014. Before and even after being put behind the bars, Kartel was always on the lime light. He has faced a lot of criticism throughout his career especially for his skin bleaching, which he claimed to have done using cake soap so as to make his tattoos more visible. In trying to validate his actions, he said that he saw skin bleaching in the same light as wearing weaves and tanning.

The VYBZ Kartel skin bleaching controversy was not going to die after his skin lightening. He went ahead to launch his own brand of men’s cosmetic products which included skin brightening products such soaps and creams.

The fact that he is from a country where skin bleaching is common provided a ready market for these. Jamaica skin bleaching is structured around the principle that black is inferior and white is superior. This is derived from the fact that in the Caribbean countries, poor people work outdoors where there is so much heat causing them to get darker while those in higher social status remain indoors. The dark skin bleaching comes in to get the message across and get a boost in esteem.

In a twisted turn off events, Vybz Cartel released a song going by the title School. This was released before resumption of school in the year 2013. In it, he urges young people not to bleach their skin but instead focus on their studies. This was quite ironical since earlier on he had released a song that was aimed at praising his bleached skin.

Did VYBZ Kartel Bleach His Skin

VYBZ Kartel did bleach his skin. He initially said that he used cake soap but later admitted that it was his own formula and not cake soap that had lightened him up. He was to later get into the skin lightening business by releasing a line of skin bleaching products. He claims that his reason for lightening his skin was so as to make his many tattoos more visible.

VYBZ Kartel Skin Bleaching Before and After

The images of VYBZ Kartel skin bleaching before and after show a skin that has been lightened by a number of shades. Whatever he used did manage to give him a smoother and brighter skin tone. This has seen him change from a chocolate brown man to a very light skinned one.

Soon after bleaching his own skin, Kartel released his own line of men’s cosmetics going by the brand name “ Vybz”. These included skin bleaching products such as creams which were initially only available in Jamaica.